 March 24, 1999
Collection offers a
safe home for historical records
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___A thief almost robbed First Baptist Church in Seadrift of its heritage.
___When a burglar broke into the South Texas church, he stole the office safe and all its contents, including a microfiche copy of the 110-year-old congregation's historical records.
___Fortunately, the church had deposited its original business conference minutes and other records with the Texas Baptist Historical Collection and
|
ALAN LEFEVER, director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, and library coordinator Naomi Taplin are on a mission to "collect, preserve and communicate" Texas Baptist history by putting Texas Baptist church records on microfilm. The collection's library catalog soon will be accessible on the Internet at www.bgct.org/tbhc.
| allowed the collection staff to microfilm the papers.
___"At the time, we had records dating back to 1888, piled up and deteriorating. The more they were moved around, the more they fell apart," pastor Joe Dufner said. "Putting the records on microfiche relieved us of a space problem, and the Historical Collection offered a good, safe place for keeping them."
___The collection, housed at the Baptist General Convention of Texas building in Dallas, secured both the original records and a master copy of the microfiche, and its staff was able to provide the church a new microfiche copy.
___The collection offers microfilming of records and preservation of important papers as a service to Texas Baptist churches at no cost. Churches that deposit records for safekeeping retain the rights to them and may remove them at any time.
___"Our mission is to collect, preserve and communicate Texas Baptists' heritage," said Alan Lefever, director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection.
___Since relocating from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth to the Baptist Building last year, Lefever and his staff have launched an interactive site on the BGCT web page. By clicking on www.bgct.org/tbhc, churches can retrieve
|
|
The Texas Baptist Historical Collection
___What it can do for your church:
___ Provide information about how to write your church history.
___ Provide forms for church history and pastor's biography.
___ Provide biographical information and photographs of former pastors.
___ Provide basic statistics about your church.
___ Provide addresses of living former pastors.
___ Microfilm church minutes.
___ Provide for preservation of your history and minutes.
___What you can do for the collection:
___ Send in two copies of your church history.
___ Send available biographical information and photographs of former pastors to the collection.
___ Send copies of all special occasion programs and articles about your church to the collection.
___ Deposit your church minutes and other records with the collection.
___ Join the Texas Baptist Historical Society.
___Mail inquiries may be sent to: Texas Baptist Historical Collection, 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246-1798 Phone (214) 887-5422, or e-mail TBHC@bgct.org.
| information and submit data.
___"A pastor or church staff member can fill out the biographical form and send it to us in just a few minutes," Lefever said, noting that he hopes the collection can maintain a complete, up-to-date file on all Texas Baptist ministers.
___That information then could be accessed by any church seeking current information on a former pastor or anyone doing research on someone in Texas Baptist life.
___The site also includes a church history survey form that can be completed on-line. The form allows churches to record important historical information such as date of organization, names of former pastors and years of service, deacons ordained by the church, years buildings were completed, and names of charter members.
___As a service to Texas Baptists, the collection also maintains a library that includes written and oral histories of churches, church and associational minutes, biographies, newspapers and general historical works related to Baptists in Texas.
___"I hope to have the library catalog accessible on the Internet within two months," said Naomi Taplin, library coordinator. Texas Baptists will be able to request many of those holdings by way of interlibrary loan through a local public or school library.
___Texas Baptists with Internet access also can download copies of several different "how to" booklets giving hints to churches observing anniversaries, writing histories, starting archives or starting historical committees.
___Lefever, who describes himself as a "missionary for Texas Baptist history," also conducts workshops for local churches and associations on those and similar topics.
___"The way to guarantee the future of the Baptist General Convention of Texas is to make sure our people know their past," he said.
___"We're not just here to record history. We're here to preserve our heritage."
___
___
Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
|